The Communist Party has found a candidate for governor of the Moscow region

The personnel commission under the presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation recommended the deputy chairman of the Moscow Regional Duma, the head of the party faction, Alexander Naumov, to be nominated for the election of the governor of the Moscow Region, the source in the party told Vedomosti. Naumov himself confirmed the recommendation of the personnel commission to Vedomosti, but noted that the decision to nominate is not yet final – his candidacy will be considered by the regional branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Presidium of the Central Committee.

The communist considers the current governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov (United Russia) to be his main rival. Among the likely topics of the campaign, Naumov named the creation of new jobs and the development of industrial sites in the region, the problems of health care and social support for the population, mass housing, ecology and agricultural development.

Vorobyov has not yet announced his participation in the elections. He has headed the region since 2012 and, according to a source close to the regional administration, is preparing for the campaign. Vedomosti sent a request to the governor’s press service.

The incumbent head of the Moscow Region is not in danger of “anything serious” in the autumn elections, political scientist Konstantin Kalachev believes: “The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is nominating a respected, high-status, but little-known candidate to counterbalance him.”

The Communists are counting on a “worthy second place,” Kalachev says. For the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Moscow region is an important region, the candidate must “perform beautifully” and not fall below the rating of the party itself, Kalachev told Vedomosti. At the same time, the governor himself is well able to build relationships with other parties. They are “workers” with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, there is no antagonism, the expert says.

According to Kalachev, in some areas there may be an attempt to express the dissatisfaction of local residents by voting against Vorobyov, but one cannot expect a massive overturning vote.

In March, it became known that the LDPR had decided on a candidate for governor of the Moscow Region. They, presumably, will be another deputy chairman of the Moscow Regional Duma, coordinator of the regional department of the party, Kirill Zhigarev. The corresponding decision was made at a meeting of the LDPR Supreme Council and announced at a meeting of the LDPR faction in the State Duma on March 21, reported TASS with reference to sources.

In the previous gubernatorial elections held in 2018, Vorobyov received 62.52% of the votes. He got the best result in Balashikha (78.9%), the worst – in Ruza (27.8%) and Volokolamsk districts (20.68%), where protests against landfills took place. The second place in the 2018 elections was taken by the candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Konstantin Cheremisov (12.99%, or more than 278,000 votes), the third – the representative of the Green Alliance Lilia Belova (7.51%, or more than 160,700 votes).

Maria Makutina contributed to the preparation of the article